Your dog’s sudden urination on the floor of the house or the pretty rugs strewn around could be due to a response to submission or perhaps an exhibition of excitement. When a housebroken dog pees without warning leaving you to clean up and wonder what went wrong, its best to first speak to your vet. If the pet receives a clean bill of health from the doctor then the dog owner must shift focus on dealing with submissive or excitement urination, with one of them being the probable cause.
image source: Beach Puppy Rescue
For suitably curing the issue at hand you must primarily differentiate the two that is `submissive urination’ from `peeing out of excitement’.
Submissive Peeing: The pet urinating in any of these situations below highlights submissive urination.
- When someone comes near the pooch or may even bend over to pet it.
- Punishing the dog.
- Acknowledging your pet when you arrive home.
- When the dog parent assumes a dominant body language such as making a direct eye contact with the canine or bending at the waist to touch its head.
- If your dog appears to be shy and nervous.
- When it is faced with a difficult situation.
A Dog has its way of signaling that it accepts your supremacy and leadership in the family pack and may urinate to express the same. Sometimes the dog will adopt a certain body language to express passivity such as a crouching body position, dropped/pinned ears and lying on its back exposing the belly.
Excitement Urination in Dogs: Occurs under the following circumstances.
- When you enter home after your outdoor stint or work. Just as you are about to caress the pooch, it lets out urine on the living room floor.
- Most puppies face this situation as the bladder muscle that holds the urine isn’t fully developed at this stage. When the dog reaches adulthood often the issue is resolved naturally.
- During playtime.
- When guests arrive to visit you.
The above distinction will help you understand the real cause behind the pooch’s `pissing piss’. Now comes the time to solve out the issue.
How to deal with Submissive Urination?
Firstly do not punish the pet or shout at it for pissing inappropriately. In any such event, just clean the area without creating any ruckus. You have to display a calm and assertive disposition at all times. Adopt the Obedience training route that involves teaching the dog commands such as `sit’, `stay’, `come’ and `down’ with the help of the reward-reinforcement approach. Training instils the much-needed confidence in pet dogs.
Do not assume any body posture that may be read as intimidation by the pet. For starters leaning at the waist or touching the dog’s head is interpreted as a clear threat.
It’s best to greet the pet by sitting down next to it and then stroking the chest moving up to its head. Even touching the dog under the chin will enable it to view it as a non-threatening move. Another positive way of approaching it is from the sides and bringing oneself to its level.
Never forget to offer healthy treats or toys to the dog in an attempt to reward it for urinating at the designated spots.
When you arrive home after a long day at work or party your first practice should not involve interacting with the pet dog. When you come into your home the first thing you can do is to enter the kitchen to drink water or use the rest room before happily acknowledging the pet. Another way to ensure a low key arrival is to step out into your lawn in a matter of seconds without any real interaction with the pooch and encourage the furry companion to follow suit. Once you are outdoors even if the pet urinates, it will not be a cause to worry. The next step should be to sit down on the ground and gesticulate to the dog to come to you and make her sit down beside you. Reward your dog’s obedience after it has successfully followed your commands. Such an activity that also translates into a subtle meet and greet session will help to redirect the pet from excitement peeing to something more concrete and praiseworthy. Lavishing praises on the dog will help build its confidence and it will also be encouraged to do the right thing at any given moment.
When it comes to puppies, it is important to carry out their recreation in the open. In case on a certain day you plan to play with the pup inside the house then line the floor with puppy pads or paper to prevent the flooring or carpets from getting dirty.
Whether it is a mature dog or still a puppy never punish or scold it for not peeing in the right places. After a peeing accident you must simply clean the spot and let the dog be.
It is important to take your dog out for walks each day and when it urinates during its strolls you ought to praise and reward it with healthy treats. Also you may have set some `okay to pee on corners’ in your yard and whenever the pet follows the laid down path you must follow the praise route that will go a long way in helping the pet to shun its habit of excitement urination.
Article resouce:
PetMD